The HER-2/neu (erbB-2) oncogene encodes a receptor-like tyrosine kinase (RTK) that has been extensively investigated because of its role in several human carcinomas (Hynes and Stem, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184, 1994; and Dougall et al., Oncogene 9:2109-2123, 1994) and in mammalian development (Lee et al., Nature 378:394-398, 1995). The sequence of the HER-2 protein was determined from a cDNA that was cloned by homology to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mRNA from placenta (Coussens et al., Science 230:1132-1139, 1985) and from a gastric carcinoma cell line (Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986). The HER-2 mRNA was shown to be about 4.5 kb (Coussens et al., Science 230:1132-1139, 1985; and Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986) and encodes a transmembrane glycoprotein of 185 kDa in normal and malignant human tissues (p185HER-2) (Hynes and Stem, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184, 1994; and Dougall et al., Oncogene 9:2109-2123, 1994). The function of the HER-2 gene has been examined mainly by expressing the cDNA corresponding to the 4.5 kb transcript in transfected cells and from the structure and biochemical properties of the 185 kDa protein product. P185HER-2 consists of a large extracellular domain, a transmembrane segment, and an intracellular domain with tyrosine kinase activity (Hynes and Stem, Biochim. et Biophys. Acta 1198:165-184, 1994; and Dougall et al., Oncogene 9:2109-2123, 1994). Overexpression of p185HER-2 causes phenotypic transformation of cultured cells (DiFiore et al., Science 237:178-182, 1987; and Hudziak et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:7159-7163, 1987) and has been associated with aggressive clinical progression of breast and ovarian cancer (Slamon et al., Science 235:177-182, 1987; and Slamon et al., Science 244:707-712, 1989). p185HER-2 is highly homologous to the EGFR. However, a ligand that directly binds with high affinity to p185HER-2 has not yet been identified. Moreover, the signaling activity of HER-2 may be mediated through heterodimerization with other ligand-binding members of the EGFR family (Carraway and Cantley, Cell 78:5-8, 1994; Earp et al., Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 35:115-132, 1995; and Qian et al., Oncogene 10:211-219, 1995).
Divergent proteins, containing regions of the extracellular domains of HER family RTKs, are generated through proteolytic processing of full length receptors (Lin and Clinton, Oncogene 6:639-643, 1991; Zabrecky et al., J. Biol. Chem. 266:1716-1720, 1991; Pupa et al., Oncogene 8:2917-2923, 1993; Vecchi et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:18989-18995, 1996; and Vecchi and Carpenter, J. Cell Biol. 139:995-1003, 1997) and through alternative RNA processing (Petch et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982, 1990; Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993; and Lee and Maihle, Oncogene 16:3243-3252, 1998). The extracellular domain of p185HER-2 is proteolytically shed from breast carcinoma cells in culture (Petch et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982, 1990; Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993; and Lee and Maihle, Oncogene 16:3243-3252, 1998), and is found in the serum of some cancer patients (Leitzel et al., J. Clin. Oncol. 10:1436-1443, 1992) where it is may be a serum marker of metastatic breast cancer (Leitzel et al., J. Clin. Oncol. 10: 1436-1443, 1992) and may allow escape of HER-2-rich tumors from immunological control (Baselga et al., J. Clin. Oncol. 14:737-744, 1966; and Brodowicz et al., Int. J. Cancer 73:875-879, 1997).
A truncated extracellular domain of HER-2 is also the product of a 2.3 kb alternative transcript generated by use of a polyadenylation signal within an intron (Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993). The alternative transcript was first identified in the gastric carcinoma cell line, MKN7 (Yamamoto et al., Nature 319:230-234, 1986; and Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993) and the truncated receptor was located within the perinuclear cytoplasm rather than secreted from these tumor cells (Scott et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:2247-2257, 1993). However, no particular therapeutic, diagnostic or research utility has been ascribed to this truncated extracellular domain polypeptide. A truncated extracellular domain of the EGFR, generated by alternative splicing (Petch et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 10:2973-2982, 1990) is secreted, exhibits ligand-binding, and dimerization properties (Basu et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:671-677, 1989), and may have a dominant negative effect on receptor function (Basu et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:671-677, 1989; and Flickinger et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:883-893, 1992).
Therefore, there is a need in the art to find molecules that bind to cellular HER-2 and particularly molecules that bind to different sites than humanized antibodies to HER-2 (e.g., HERCEPTIN®). Such molecules would be useful therapeutic agents for various cancers that overexpress HER-2.